Jaago Re: India’s fight against Corruption

Tata Tea launches an extensive campaign against corruption by re-launching jaagore.com, and the 34 day bus journey,Tata Tea Vrath Yatra commemorating Anti-Corruption Day on December 9.

‘Aaj se khilana band Pilana Shuru’ will empower every ordinary Indian citizen to believe he can get his work done without having to pay a bribe. Tata tea launched an integrated campaign- ‘Khilana Band, Pilana Shuru’ in August this year with a promise to come back on Anti-Corruption Day and take the campaign to the next level. In concurrence with that promise, Tata Tea launched a Corruption Index, a three- city study to bring out the perceptions of the citizens, across socio-economic classes, about corruption and its impact on the social and economic fibre of society in the nation. The movement leans towards sensitizing the youth against corruption. Sushant Dash, the Associate President of Marketing at Tata Tea said to the press, “tea is generally conceived as a wake up drink, but now it should be a cause towards social awakening, especially of the youth”.

On Global Anti- Corruption day, which falls on December 9, Tata Tea launched its website www.jaagore.com which was synonymous with voting applications last year. The re launched web portal which facilitates the flow of information and resources and resources between individuals/ groups/ organizations. It aims to bring together, onto a common platform, those who possess information and resources and those who need them. The crux of the campaign was the Tata Tea Jaago Re Vrath Yatra- a 38-day bus journey across the country to connect with the youth and urge them to pledge against corruption. The Vrath Yatra, was flagged off by Justice Santosh Hegde, Lokayukta, Karnataka State and Sangeeta Talwar, Executive Director, Tata Tea.

Speaking on the occasion Hegde joked, “the Lokayukta runs a similar project, though the difference is that our budget sometimes doesn’t allow us to afford a couple of cups of tea”. Speaking on a more serious note, Hegde said that corruption is one of the biggest hindrances to the development of our country. “We have had cases where senior IPS, and IAS officers were caught accepting bribe, and corruption is not contained only to politics, its runs deep in educational institutions as well. US $ 1456 billion was uncovered at Swiss banks, the kind of money can remove India’s international debt three times over. With the kind of work we do, last year alone, I spoke at 127 educational institutions telling them against corruption” added Hegde.

Justice Hegde, and Sangeeta Talwar launching the Rath Yatra

Talwar gave quoted numbers released a three city survey by AC Nielson, called the ‘Jaago Re Corruption Index’. The key findings included that Bangalore ranked corruption slightly higher than Mumbai or Delhi as a challenge. Only 7% of the respondents agreed to have bribed in last one month. Bribing evidence was highest in Bangalore with 11 % of the respondents have agreed to have given bribe in the last one month. In Delhi and Mumbai, the figures were 6% and 5% respectively. A whooping number of 46% of the respondents said that they wouldn’t mind giving bribe if their work is getting done faster and without hassles. Again, Bangalore topped the list with 53% of the respondents willing to give bribe for speedy completion of their work. It was 43% in Mumbai and 41% in New Delhi.

Over the last couple of months the organization has collected over 1.8 lakh pledges against corruption through various routes including the internet, mobile, retail and even schools.

For more details log on to http://www.jaagore.com/

SOS Children in India: Children for Sponsorship in India

ndia is the second most populous country in the world. Acceleration in economic growth has made India among the world's ten fastest growing developing countries. Yet, the country's per capita income remains low and 26 per cent of the population live below the income povertyline. Forty seven per cent of children under three years of age are malnourished. There continues to be high incidence of child labour and out-of-school children, girls remaining particularly disadvantaged. Although the caste system has been officially abolished, religious and social barriers still influence everyday life.

SOS Children began working in India in 1963. Today there are 39 children’s villages, eight of which are for Tibetan refugee children, see here. As well as the communities where over 6,000 once-destitute children now have a permanent family home, over fifty SOS welfare, educational and medical facilities also provide assistance for people in the wider community.

SOS Children in India

Local contacts

SOS Children's Villages of India

A-07 Nizamudin West

New Delhi 110 013

India

Tel: 00 91 11 2435 7299

Email: soscvi@soscvindia.org

Nandita Das's Charity Work, Events and Causes

Nandita Das, one of India’s well known actors, has a string of powerful performances in films like Fire, Earth, Bawander, Before the Rains and many other films. She has acted in over 30 feature films, in ten different languages, with directors of international repute like, Deepa Mehta, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mrinal Sen, Shyam Benegal, Mani Ratnam, and others.

Nandita’s involvement with charitable work began fairly early in life when she did her Masters in Social Work from the reputed Delhi School of Social Work. Following this formal training in social work she worked in non-governmental organisations in different parts of India. She worked as the project coordinator in ‘Ankur’, a non-governmental organization, working towards of empowerment of women; and as a trainer in ‘Alarippu,’ a voluntary organization where she conducted workshops for children and teachers, in innovative education.

Since then, over the years, while being an internationally successful film actor and director she has also actively campaigned for numerous social causes. She is probably as well known as a social activist as a film person. Even her choice of films have been in line with her commitment to make a difference. Though at times these films have run into numerous controversies, she has continued working in consonance with her convictions. She has chosen to be part of stories that she believes in, and as she says, “that need to be told.”


Causes close to her heart are issues of sectarian violence, which was also the topic of her directorial debut feature film, “Firaaq” in 2008, violence against women, issues of child rights, stigma concerning HIV/ AIDS and disability. She has also directed public service ads on Water Harvesting and Education.

Nandita is passionately involved with various Civil Society organizations and movements, and is often seen at the forefront of voluntary causes and social advocacy.

In a unique combination of her profession and her need to give back to society, in 2003, Nandita supported the International Special Film Festival along with Brotherhood, an organization that works towards bridging the gap between children with physical disabilities and those without.

In January 2005, when the Tsunami hit parts of Asia, she was actively supporting NGO’s working for rehabilitation of affected persons in the Galle area of Sri Lanka, one of the worst affected areas. The same year she also participated in the Mumbai Marathon to raise awareness and funds for ‘Aman Biradri,’ an organization working towards peace, justice and harmony.

She is actively associated with “GiveIndia”, an organization which screens and vets “accountable” and “trustworthy” charities and that makes it easy for persons to donate online via their website. In September 2009, she was a major driving force in the “Joy of Giving Week,” which was a campaign coordinated by GiveIndia to encourage the culture of giving.

Nandita in the past has been nominated as a Spokesperson for (UNDP) United Nations Development Programme. She has been very active in Indo-pak peace initiatives is a Member of the South Asians for Human Rights (SAHAR) that has been active in creating dialogue among the civil society of South Asia.

Nandita has been a speaker in various Universities, NGOs and social forums, both in India and abroad, on issues of social concern. She is also a prolific writer and has expressed her anguish, opinions and concern on numerous social issues through her writings in print media and on her website.

Her inspiration in life comes from the famous quote of Mahatma Gandhi: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”